Shipping

Fighting for freight, retailers are outbidding each other to score scarce cargo space on ships, paying two to three times last year’s freight rates — in some cases, the highest rates in five years. And still, many are getting merchandise weeks late.

The direct marketing industry needs to focus on getting the USPS to set the smartest postage rates for catalogs, magazines, saturation mail for retailers and direct mail. It’s in the best interest of the USPS to respond to guidance from the mailing community because direct mail is a major source of profitable mail volume. The Post Office should be focused on increasing its profitable volume rather than ratcheting up postage rates again and having volume and profits dwindle as a result.

The U.S. Postal Service and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) have agreed to jointly provide fulfillment, information management services and customer maintenance to federal agencies to enable them to serve the needs of their departments.

Responding to the call for a doubling of exports over the next five years through the National Export Initiative, officials with the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Department of Commerce are leveraging their strategic partnership to launch a business plan aimed at empowering American businesses interested in exporting as a pathway to growth. A partnership agreement signed at Postal Service headquarters today establishes an outreach strategy between representatives of the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration and U.S. Commercial Service, and the Postal Service's Global Business team.

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday proposed a 2-cent increase in the price of a first-class stamp, bringing the cost to 46 cents. The change, if approved, will go into effect on Jan. 2. Rates on packages, periodicals and special services are also set to increase under the proposed plan. The hike would generate about $3 billion in the first fiscal year, according to the Postal Service, not even half of the shortfall. The Postal Regulatory Commission, which oversees the Postal Service, needs to approve the increase. The commission, whose five members are appointed by the president, has 90 days to rule.

What do CVS Caremark Corp. and a northwest Michigan newspaper have in common? They both rely heavily on Saturday mail delivery. So when the Postal Regulatory Commission held a hearing Monday at City Hall, they came out to speak against the U.S. Postal Service's plan to eliminate Saturday delivery, which would save $3 billion annually. Under the plan, letter carriers would not deliver mail or pick up letters from blue collection boxes on Saturdays. Mail would be accepted at post offices on Saturdays, but it wouldn't be processed until after the weekend. Express mail and remittance mail services would continue seven days a week. The plan comes as the Postal Service is faced with a projected $238 billion deficit over the next decade.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 15 percent in June compared with the same month a year ago, and double-digit increases should continue into the fall as the U.S. economy recovers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

In a strategic organizational shift designed to achieve long-term business objectives, PMG Jack Potter today announced realignments within two groups representing key areas of revenue growth for USPS. The Expedited Shipping and Ground Shipping groups have merged into a single Shipping Services group. Potter has named Gary Reblin, formerly vice president, Expedited Shipping, to lead the unified group as vice president, Shipping Services. Also, USPS has formed the Product Visibility and Operational Performance group to develop a world-class customer information platform through scanning technologies and product tracking services. Potter named Jim Cochrane, formerly vice president, Ground Shipping, to lead the new group as vice president, Product Visibility and Operational Performance.

Q:"Shipping costs are eating me alive. Customers want free or very low shipping, but they have no idea what that means for small online retail stores. Do you have any strategies to deal with shipping costs and remain competitive?"— Carla Rose, owner, Green and Chic

In late March the U.S. Postal Service officially presented its plan to move to a five-day delivery week to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). Although the centerpiece of the USPS’ plan is the elimination of street address delivery on Saturdays, direct marketers should be aware there are many more potential changes that could impact their businesses.